The Core Energetic Process : Dr John Pierrakos [ Orgone , Reich ]

A student of the controversial Freudian Dr. Wilhelm Reich, Dr. John Pierrakos was deeply influenced by Reich’s work and sought to expand upon it after Reich’s suppression and imprisonment.

The founder of The Bioenergetics Institute and co-founder of The Pathwork Center in Phoenicia, New York, Pierrakos and his wife Eva incorporated Reich’s theories of Orgone energy into their own work and unique perspective on the concept of character armor, which is the protective layer that individuals develop around their true self in order to deal with emotional trauma, as it relates to a purported spiritual energy systems. According to Dr. Pierrakos, this armor can limit an individual’s ability to fully experience and express their emotions, leading to physical and psychological symptoms stemming from the blockages of bioenergy that deny people the ability to be their essential selves.

In this pamphlet, The Core Energetic Process Concepts of the New Age in Therapy, published in 1980 by the Institute for the New Age, Dr Pierrakos details the ways his approach differs from traditional psychoanalysis, particularly his concept of “Core Energetics”, the therapeutic method that he and his wife developed based on Reich’s Orgone energy theories.